Apostles of Doom

“Wait!” Sir Samwell interrupted. Heron paused and looked at him. “You are saying that this assistant vice-constable pyromancer, whose ship was lost at sea, was able to follow the smuggler’s vessel the remainder of the way to Hoggensforth?”

Heron nodded. “It was truly inspirational. Apparently he had minored in aquamancy at the university.”

“A pyromancer with a minor in aquamancy? Those two skill sets are antipodes! While I know that master wizards must study all disciplines, starting with such a combination is very unusual,” Sir Samwell exclaimed.

“Not as much as it used to be.” Heron shook his head. “There are now several naval pyromancers who have studied aquamancy, pretty much for this sort of situation.”

“Interesting. Times, they do change.” Sir Samwell grinned.

Heron smiled back. “Sometimes too quickly.” He shook his head and continued, “Fiernon contacted our local field protectator, Wylan Wynterford. The two pursued the party to Freehold.”

“Wait — what did they do about the smuggler?” Samwell asked.

“Unfortunately, the Rod arrived and seized the vessel before Wylan and Fiernon could execute Justice.” Heron shook his head in dismay.

“Unfortunate,” Sir Samwell remarked.

“In any event, the miscreants and our two agents arrived in Freehold and sent word to the Constabulary, and I marshalled the Sky Fleet, and long story short, we ended up laying siege to Freehold, along with the Rod of Tiernon.” Heron sighed.

“You could not convince this Freehold to relinquish these uninvited guests?” Sir Samwell asked with a tone of disbelief.

“Freehold is the home of the Council of Wizardry, and the capital of the Council States.” Heron said. “Invading the city would have been an act of war. All we could do was camp outside and demand their return.” He frowned. “Unfortunately, the Rod also wanted the same party.”

“So what happened?” Sir Samwell asked.

“Well, the city put up these magical wards that would have been very difficult for either us or the Rod to penetrate, and took the matter under consideration,” Heron said.

“And their eventual response?” Samwell asked.

“Well, it turns out they somehow discovered that their city was infested with a bit over a thousand demons.”

Samwell blinked rapidly in shock. “A city of wizards infested with demons?” He looked questioningly to Heron. “I’m not sure what that means. Wizards often have lots of demons.”

“No, these were invisible demons that the wizards had been unaware of,” Heron answered.

“Invisible demons that the wizards were not aware of?” Sir Samwell repeated questioningly.

“Yes — a bit embarrassing, if you ask me.” Heron grinned.

“Indeed. So what was the resolution?” Sir Samwell asked.

“Well, the Sky Fleet and the Rod came to us with this plan to violently expel the demons — mostly sprites, shadows, imps and a few fiends — and asked us to slay them as they fled in panic,” Heron said.

“This worked?” Sir Samwell asked.

“Actually, yes, quite well, until this greater demon emerged along with a few others in its retinue. Apparently Sir Talarius had managed to capture a lesser greater demon that looked remarkably like the greater demon and was about to slay it when the greater demon landed and offered to duel Sir Talarius in single combat in exchange for the life of the smaller greater demon.”

“Well, not ideal, but better than having your army severely damaged by the greater demon,” Sir Samwell remarked.

“Yes. And it was a very close battle,” Heron added.

“This must be a very impressive Knight Rampant,” Sir Samwell observed.

“Yes, he was, but he also cheated. Talarius gave his word to single combat, but ended up getting help from the Rod and priests.” Heron sighed. “Thus, the knight nearly triumphed.”

“I am not one to wish a demon luck; far from it. However, I do have to say that a knight violating his personal oath is, quite personally, sickening,” Sir Samwell said.

“Indeed,” Heron said. “If he were one of ours, he would be in a great deal of legal trouble. However, it gets worse.”

“Worse?” Sir Samwell raised an eyebrow questioningly.

“Indeed. Talarius surrendered, and then the demon shape-changed to a human form and came forward to offer the knight mercy.”

Sir Samwell closed his eyes, suspecting what was coming. Actually, he knew full well what was coming, but needed to be convincing to Heron.

“The knight pulled forth a dark blade, one capable of permanently slaying a demon, and attempted to kill the demon with it,” Heron said.

“He violated the terms of his own surrender?” Sir Samwell shook his head.

“Shocking,” Heron agreed. “I am no longer convinced that our allies have their former moral certainty.”

“But wait…” Sir Samwell shook his head. “”